When the Storm made the offseason acquisitions of Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith the duo said all along that this was Jewel Loyd’s team. Loyd’s game-high 18 points proved the point. One player does not win championships. Nneka Ogwumike’s 15 points mean that Loyd does not have to do it alone this season. Yes, it was the last of two preseason games. Evident in the Storms’ win over the Mercury was the ability to score. Diggins-Smith finished the game with nine points but more importantly, she dished out a game-high five assists.
DEFENSE PAVES THE WAY
The Storm’ ability to score pretty much at will was due to tenacious defense that held the Mercury to just 59 points. Something that is difficult to do according to head coach Noelle Quinn who praised her team’s defensive effort.
“I mean holding. I know it’s preseason, but holding a team so 59 points. It’s something we didn’t do a lot last season and so to see chemistry defensively is amazing. Because it not offensively we want to play a certain way but if we can just impact the game defensively, all the time,” said Quinn
In her pregame interview Storm head coach Noelle Quinn said that she wanted to mix and match various lineups so players could work on their chemistry. The switching of players caused some early turnovers in the first half. Diggins-Smith, Loyd, and Victoria Vivians had a turnover a piece. Jordon Horston led the team with two turnovers in the first half. A rusty, road-weary but lively Ezi Magbegor led the team with three turnovers but those were due to a lack of familiarity between the players. In 27 minutes Magbegor scored five points pulled down six rebounds, and had three blocked shots . Last night’s contest was Magbegor’s first action of the season after arriving from Europe last Sunday.
“We got to get players in positions where they’re going to get their shots today. We had good chemistry on both ends of the court which is important “ Quinn added. “ But defensively is the same thing and the chemistry was good, we saw rotations playing off of one another and just really being active.”
Mercury ageless wonder Dian Taurasi finished with a team-high 10 points and center Brittny Griner scored five points pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assist to go with her two-blocked shot. As for the team’s strong start and finish Loyd said it was a mindset the team had going into the game.
“I mean, we wanted to make sure that we came out with more of a defensive presence, especially compared to our last game. So that was kind of really what set the tone and the head of that snake was sky and Drew, and kind of guarding their yard and locking down who they have, said Loyd. “ And then us, of course, maintaining our schemes. And I think that really fit our offense. We wanted to get stopped, and we wanted to play early. You know, that first game, I think we had the right idea of trying to come out here and do things correctly.”
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